Evening Prayer For The Dead
Evening Prayer is part of the official liturgy of the church, from the Liturgy of the Hours. This Evening Prayer is taken from the Office for the Dead.
(All make the Sign of the Cross)
Leader:
O God, come to our aid.
All:
Lord, make haste to help us.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen. Alleluia.
(in Lent, omit Alleluia)
(The psalms may be prayed
in 2 groups: 1 & 2)
PSALM 121
God, the protector
of his people:
a pilgrimage song
Leader:
The Lord will guard you
from every evil,
he will guard your soul.
I lift up my eyes
to the mountains;
from where shall
come my help?
My help shall come
from the Lord
who made
heaven and earth.
May he never
allow you to stumble!
Let him sleep not,
your guard.
No, he sleeps not
nor slumbers, Israel's guard.
The Lord is your guard
and your shade:
at your right side
he stands.
By day the sun
shall not smite you
nor the moon in the night.
The Lord will
guard you from evil,
he will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard
your going and coming
both now and forever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
would without end. Amen.
All:
The Lord will guard you
from every evil,
he will guard your soul.
PSALM PRAYER
Leader:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have prepared
a quiet place for us
in your Father's eternal home.
Watch over our welfare
on this perilous journey,
shade us from
the burning heat of day,
and keep our lives
free of evil until the end.
We ask this through
Christ, our Lord.
All: Amen.
PSALM 129
A Prayer of repentance
and trust
Leader:
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
Out of the depths
I cry to you, O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!
O let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
But with you is found
forgiveness:
for this we revere you.
My soul is waiting
for the Lord,
l count on his word.
My soul is longing
for the Lord
more than watchman
for daybreak.
Let the watchman
count on daybreak,
and Israel on the Lord.
Because with the Lord
there is mercy and
fullness of redemption,
Israel indeed he will
redeem from all its iniquity.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
All:
If you, O Lord,
should mark our guilt,
Lord, who would survive?
PSALM PRAYER
Leader:
Listen with compassion
to our prayers, Lord.
The forgiveness of sins is yours.
Do not look
on the wrong we have done.
Grant us your merciful kindness,
and grant (N...) full pardon.
We ask this through
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
CANTICLE: Phil 2:6-11
Christ, the servant of God
Leader:
As the Father raises the dead
and gives them life,
so the Son gives life
to anyone he chooses.
Though he was in the
form of God,
Jesus did not count
equality with God
a thing to be grasped.
He emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant,
being born
in the likeness of men.
And being found
in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient
unto death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has
highly exalted him and
bestowed on him
the name which is
above every name.
That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth.
And every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen
All :
As the Father raises the dead
and gives them life,
so the Son gives life
to anyone he chooses.
SCRIPTURE READING
(1 Cor 15:55-57)
Death, where is your victory?
Death, where is your sting?
Now the sting of death is sin,
and sin gets its power
from the Law.
So let us thank God
for giving us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SHORT RESPONSORY
Leader:
Show them your
merciful love, Lord,
give them eternal rest.
All:
Show them
your merciful love, Lord,
give them eternal rest.
Leader:
You are coming to rule over
both the living and the dead.
All:
Show them
your merciful love, Lord,
give them eternal rest.
Leader :
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
All:
Show them
your merciful love, Lord,
give them eternal rest.
MAGNIFICAT
Antiphon :
(Outside of Easter season)
All that the
Father gives me
will come to me;
and I will never
turn away the one
who comes to me.
(During Easter season)
Christ was crucified
and rose from the dead;
he has redeemed us,
alleluia.
My soul glorifies the Lord,
My spirit rejoices in God,
my Saviour
He looks on his servant
in her lowliness;
henceforth, all ages
will call me blessed.
The Almighty
works marvels for me.
Holy his name!
He puts forth his arm
in strength and
scatters the proud-hearted.
He casts the mighty
from their thrones
and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving
with good things,
sends the rich away empty.
He protects Israel
his servant,
remembering his mercy.
The mercy promised
to our fathers,
to Abraham
and his sons forever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
Antiphon :
(Outside of Easter season)
All that the
Father gives me
will come to me;
and I will never
turn away the one
who comes to me.
(During Easter season)
Christ was crucified
and rose from the dead;
he has redeemed us,
alleluia.
INTERCESSIONS
Leader:
Let us pray to Christ
who gives us the hope
that our mortal bodies
will become like his in glory.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
Christ, Son of the living God,
you raised your friend Lazarus
from the dead;
grant life and glory
to the faithful departed,
redeemed by your precious blood.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
Compassionate Saviour,
you wiped away all tears
when you gave back
to the widow of Naim
her only son;
comfort those who mourn
because the one they love
has died.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
Christ, our Redeemer,
destroy the reign of sin
in our mortal bodies,
let us not receive
the wages of death
but the reward of eternal life.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
Christ, our Saviour,
look on those
who live without hope
and do not know you;
let them believe
in the resurrection
and the life of
the world to come.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
You restored sight
to the man born blind
and opened the eyes
of his faith;
reveal your faith
to the dead
who have not seen your glory.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
Leader:
Lord, be merciful to us
when we leave
this earthly dwelling;
make for us a home
in heaven that will
last forever.
All:
Lord, you are our life
and our resurrection.
THE LORDS' PRAYER
At the Saviour's command
and formed by divine teaching,
we dare to say:
All:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Leader:
Grant, Lord, we pray,
that as our faith
is built on the Risen Christ,
so too may our hope
be steadfast,
as we await the resurrection
of your servant, (N....)
from the dead.
We make our prayer
through Christ our Lord.
All : Amen
Leader:
The Lord bless us,
and keep us from all evil,
and bring us to everlasting life.
All: Amen